living small: built in bookcase…

it’s no secret that gil & i have a lot of books… hundreds actually to say the least. they’re everywhere: shelves, boxes, closets, cabinets, not to mention the jam packed 6 foot tall bookcase in gil’s office at work. i’m not sure where they all came from but they had to have somewhere to go, even if it was just the collection of our favorites. well, i guess i do know where they all came from… i’m a collector of everything… husband here is now a theology student (the amazon packages arrive weekly) & we’re both constantly scowering eBay for our favorite first editions.

we’d already decorated our wedding with them but here in the land of living small, we needed a solution. my list of projects for this château is long but i knew if it involved books, i had a better chance of getting the husband on board quickly {smile} & we had the perfect bookshelf sized nook to the right of our fireplace. i’d used it as an office space with an antique desk & shelves a while back, but lately it was empty, un-used space… & un-used space does NOT work when you’re living small.

i wish i had counted the books we used in our wedding… it was such a great reflection of us!

here’s henry doing his usual chewing thing in the space pre-bookcase…

after a lot of research & a few estimates my dad recommended a long-time friend of his. i sent some measurements his way & voila! he had it built-in no time & we set up a saturday for him to come over & install it. i was SO excited & stood close by the entire time {i’m sure making it more difficult for him to focus} i’d overestimated how “quick & easy” installing something like this was. it was cereal. cutting & ripping out baseboards, measuring & making holes in the casing for outlets we wanted to be able to use & lots & lots nailing. not to mention the finishing touches of filling holes, caulking & painting. carpentry is a fabulous art! here are some photos of it all coming together…

prep work.

going in! {excuse the paint, it’s finished now!}

complete!

it turned out more gorgeous than i expected & had ever hoped! the detail is perfection and we LOVE the solid adjustable shelves. i did decide to keep them evenly spaced to create some harmony since there’s so much going on in such a small space. our entire first floor is one large open room {foyer, living room, dining room & kitchen.} i was completely inspired online by books organized via color & used this photo to lead my imagination as i filled the shelves up…

now, here’s our finished product!

top shelves detail.

bottom shelves detail {we love having our Bose player hiding down here… oh & i’m aware that the wars aren’t in order. my husband asked for those to be rearranged… i love him.}

ta da.

do any of you have built-in bookcases?! i’d love to know how you arrange your books & whatnot! be curious friends!